Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Baseball
* He’s noticed the guys pressing a little bit on the current slide because they got knocked back on their heels a bit. He expects the team to be on their toes and to keep throwing punches. If you look at these losses, you’ll see errors early on that made the pitcher’s count get up early. On Saturday night, Ross Stripling was as good as you can be on the mound, but their guy was one-run better and the team ended up losing a 1-0 shutout. The turning point in Sunday’s game was having runners on the corners in the first with one out and not scoring. The team was down 4-0 after the first, and then Rafael Pineda showed why he is a good pitcher and was able to make it into the sixth without giving another run up. A&M was able to grab the lead but eventually lost it again.
* All he cares about is effort and attitude and he is getting supreme effort from the team. The guys are playing hard, and there is no one more disappointed at the end of a loss than the guys on the team. They are the ones out there pouring their heart and soul into the game and are giving great effort. He believes that when it comes to attitude, you need to be the guy throwing the punches and not the one accepting them. It’s ok to get hit in the mouth, but you have to be able to punch back. The team got hit pretty hard in the first inning on Sunday, but eventually got back up on their feet and fought back.
* The team has shown that they are going to continue to fight and has playmakers across the team. Sometimes guys get into lulls, which is all part of a 56-game schedule, and that is what you are seeing out of some of the players right now. The coaches and players are disappointed, but there is nothing they can do about this past weekend, so the focus needs to be on TCU and Texas in the coming week.
* For the last five years, the team has been ranked and has been in the polls throughout the year. That and the number two ranking they received this season is not something that they put a whole lot of thought into. They don’t talk about it because they understand it’s not about where you start, it’s about where you finish. The high ranking had nothing to do with their subpar week. Bottom line, the team needs to play better. The team is leaving a lot of runners on base and making too many errors as of late, which normally leads to what you are seeing right now.
* Baylor is playing really well together right now. He talked to the team a while back about it not being about putting your best nine players out on the field, but more about putting the best nine that work together on the field, and Baylor has done that very well this season. Breaking down their team after playing them for a weekend, you’ll see that there are a lot of older guys in their lineup. On the pitching side of things, A&M and apparently everyone else have had a hard time picking up on what is being thrown. Right now, you can’t make a lot of mistakes against the Bears unless you are going great offensively. The team is not doing as well offensively as they are capable of, and that led to three losses this weekend.
* He’s talked to Rafael Pineda about getting a little more lathered up in the bullpen and throwing more pitches prior to the beginning of the game, attempting to get rid of the early inning blues he has had this year. He did that against Baylor this weekend, but there were a lot of other things that also went into the Bears scoring four runs in the first on Sunday. An error from Naquin in right field and a 13-pitch at-bat from the Baylor catcher that eventually went over the wall made the score 3-0 before A&M knew what hit them. Pineda settled in nicely after that and was able to retire 14 or 15 hitters in a row before the bullpen was needed.
* X-rays have come back negative on Jacob House, and he will be getting a CT scan today. If he is able to get out on the field, he’s going to play, and whether that is on Tuesday against TCU or over the weekend, he’s not sure. It looks like a mid-foot sprain right now, something that is pretty common in football and not so much in baseball. He’s in pretty severe pain, but hopefully he will be back no later than this weekend.
* TCU is playing really well right now and has won eight or nine of their last 10 games. They just loss to San Diego State on Sunday, but it should make for a great game. They have struggled a little bit offensively this year and are hitting about .260 as a team. A&M will need to run someone out there that is going to throw strikes. He still hasn’t made a decision on who the starter will be on Tuesday. A&M has to play well against Texas this weekend as well, and he feels they are very fortunate to get a game at home on Friday night. For A&M, it’s about playing good baseball and not worrying who is in the other jersey. Everyone on the team has taken ownership for the current slide, and are looking to improve as they go about their business this week. He truly believes the team’s best baseball is in front of them, and even though it would take something miraculous for the Bears not to win the league, the team’s goals are still out in front of them.
* If you don’t get a little extra amped up for the final scheduled series against Texas, then you don’t have a heartbeat. It’s going to be as good of a college baseball environment as there is in the country.
Rob Childress gives honest assessment of team's struggles
Notes from "Around the Horn" with Rob Childress
* Everyone involved with the team is pretty disappointed after the weekend and there are a lot of expectations that the program is held to. The bottom line is that they didn’t play very well against a team that is playing as good as any in the country. The team had a lot of opportunities, but weren’t able to take advantage of many of them. They didn’t hit the way they were capable of and when you make two errors a game, losses are going to happen. The team needs to be able to bounce back and show their toughness.* He’s noticed the guys pressing a little bit on the current slide because they got knocked back on their heels a bit. He expects the team to be on their toes and to keep throwing punches. If you look at these losses, you’ll see errors early on that made the pitcher’s count get up early. On Saturday night, Ross Stripling was as good as you can be on the mound, but their guy was one-run better and the team ended up losing a 1-0 shutout. The turning point in Sunday’s game was having runners on the corners in the first with one out and not scoring. The team was down 4-0 after the first, and then Rafael Pineda showed why he is a good pitcher and was able to make it into the sixth without giving another run up. A&M was able to grab the lead but eventually lost it again.
* All he cares about is effort and attitude and he is getting supreme effort from the team. The guys are playing hard, and there is no one more disappointed at the end of a loss than the guys on the team. They are the ones out there pouring their heart and soul into the game and are giving great effort. He believes that when it comes to attitude, you need to be the guy throwing the punches and not the one accepting them. It’s ok to get hit in the mouth, but you have to be able to punch back. The team got hit pretty hard in the first inning on Sunday, but eventually got back up on their feet and fought back.
* The team has shown that they are going to continue to fight and has playmakers across the team. Sometimes guys get into lulls, which is all part of a 56-game schedule, and that is what you are seeing out of some of the players right now. The coaches and players are disappointed, but there is nothing they can do about this past weekend, so the focus needs to be on TCU and Texas in the coming week.
* For the last five years, the team has been ranked and has been in the polls throughout the year. That and the number two ranking they received this season is not something that they put a whole lot of thought into. They don’t talk about it because they understand it’s not about where you start, it’s about where you finish. The high ranking had nothing to do with their subpar week. Bottom line, the team needs to play better. The team is leaving a lot of runners on base and making too many errors as of late, which normally leads to what you are seeing right now.
* Baylor is playing really well together right now. He talked to the team a while back about it not being about putting your best nine players out on the field, but more about putting the best nine that work together on the field, and Baylor has done that very well this season. Breaking down their team after playing them for a weekend, you’ll see that there are a lot of older guys in their lineup. On the pitching side of things, A&M and apparently everyone else have had a hard time picking up on what is being thrown. Right now, you can’t make a lot of mistakes against the Bears unless you are going great offensively. The team is not doing as well offensively as they are capable of, and that led to three losses this weekend.
* He’s talked to Rafael Pineda about getting a little more lathered up in the bullpen and throwing more pitches prior to the beginning of the game, attempting to get rid of the early inning blues he has had this year. He did that against Baylor this weekend, but there were a lot of other things that also went into the Bears scoring four runs in the first on Sunday. An error from Naquin in right field and a 13-pitch at-bat from the Baylor catcher that eventually went over the wall made the score 3-0 before A&M knew what hit them. Pineda settled in nicely after that and was able to retire 14 or 15 hitters in a row before the bullpen was needed.
* X-rays have come back negative on Jacob House, and he will be getting a CT scan today. If he is able to get out on the field, he’s going to play, and whether that is on Tuesday against TCU or over the weekend, he’s not sure. It looks like a mid-foot sprain right now, something that is pretty common in football and not so much in baseball. He’s in pretty severe pain, but hopefully he will be back no later than this weekend.
* TCU is playing really well right now and has won eight or nine of their last 10 games. They just loss to San Diego State on Sunday, but it should make for a great game. They have struggled a little bit offensively this year and are hitting about .260 as a team. A&M will need to run someone out there that is going to throw strikes. He still hasn’t made a decision on who the starter will be on Tuesday. A&M has to play well against Texas this weekend as well, and he feels they are very fortunate to get a game at home on Friday night. For A&M, it’s about playing good baseball and not worrying who is in the other jersey. Everyone on the team has taken ownership for the current slide, and are looking to improve as they go about their business this week. He truly believes the team’s best baseball is in front of them, and even though it would take something miraculous for the Bears not to win the league, the team’s goals are still out in front of them.
* If you don’t get a little extra amped up for the final scheduled series against Texas, then you don’t have a heartbeat. It’s going to be as good of a college baseball environment as there is in the country.
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